DEF LEPPARD New Single To Be Part Of All Upcoming NBA Game Broadcasts

March 7, 2008

Iconic rockers DEF LEPPARD and TIM MCGRAW will add another notch to their belts of legendary rock anthems when "Nine Lives" — the highly anticipated first single off DEF LEPPARD's new studio album, "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" (April 29, Bludgeon Riffola/Island/UMe),becomes the featured track in a special opening segment recorded for NBA games airing on ABC. The open will be featured on game broadcasts on ABC through the rest of the season and on ABC and ESPN into the playoffs.

Exclusive new video footage was recently shot for the special opening segment with both artists in Los Angeles last week. The video will debut this Sunday, March 9 on ABC as the lead-in to the NBA game between the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns at 3:30 p.m. ET.

"The relationship for NBA on ABC to feature the pairing of two iconic artist with DEF LEPPARD and TIM MCGRAW is the perfect evolution of the music associated with NBA broadcast that has included BLACK EYED PEAS, ROB THOMAS, DESTINY'S CHILD and TOM PETTY," said David Saltz, Executive Producer for Music at ABC.

The foundation for the album's collaboration with McGraw was laid at DEF LEPPARD's 2006 Hollywood Bowl show where McGraw joined the band on stage for an encore performance of "Pour Some Sugar On Me". The artists stayed in touch following the performance, and when the band started writing the song "Nine Lives" they immediately thought of reaching out to McGraw to sing on it. Guitarist Phil Collen flew to Nashville to play it for McGraw, who loved it and recorded the song in Nashville shortly after.

The 11-track "Songs From The Sparkle Lounge" is DEF LEPPARD's first album of brand new material since 2002's "X" and begins yet another remarkable new chapter in the band's 30-year recording career. Recorded last year during month-long stints at lead singer Joe Elliott's Dublin studio, the album's title refers to a backstage area called The Sparkle Lounge on DEF LEPPARD's 2006 tour where the band would go to write songs.

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).